DURHAM, N.H.-- The University of New Hampshire women's gymnastics team has earned a bid to the 2005 NCAA Northeast Regional Championships and the team will not be traveling far to compete this year as the event will take place at the Whittemore Center Arena in Durham on Saturday, April 9 at 6 p.m.

The first 100 UNH students through the door on Saturday night will get in for free. UNH Athletics has subsidized this ticket cost to this NCAA event, much like they did for the Men's Hockey NCAA Northeast Regional Championship in Amherst, Mass. Any student after the initial 100 will get in for a reduced rate of $3. Tickets for the NCAA Northeast Regionals can be purchased at the Whittemore Center Box Office or by calling (603) 868-7300.

The Wildcats, seeded No. 4 in the Northeast Regional, will be competing against some of the best teams in the nation, including No. 1 seed LSU, No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 3 Arkansas and a pair of squads from UNH's own EAGL conference in No. 5 Rutgers and No. 6 Pittsburgh.

The teams that post the two highest scores at the Northeast Regional will move on to compete at the NCAA National Championships that will be held at Auburn University on April 21-23. In all, there are six regional championships taking place around the nation on April 9.